NFL DFS Week in Review – Ownership, GPP Winning Lineups

The Week 4 main slate is officially in the books, and it was a fun one. The Jets and Giants got their first wins of the season, the Cardinals secured a huge win over the Rams, and two games went for at least 64 total points.

There were plenty of DFS fireworks as well. Let’s dive into some of the biggest winners and losers from the Week 4 main slate as well as some of the million-dollar winners on DraftKings and FanDuel.

Winners

Tyreek Hill

Hill is one of the biggest slate-breakers in fantasy football, and he broke the slate in Week 4. He got loose for 11 catches, 186 yards, and three touchdowns, resulting in 50.6 DraftKings points.

If that wasn’t enough, those who rostered Hill on Sunday did it at minimal ownership. He was owned on just 10.1% of DraftKings’ tournament teams, putting him well behind guys like Davante Adams and Cooper Kupp in that price range.

As always, if the field is overlooking Hill, make sure to take advantage.

Saquon Barkley

The Giants were down both Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton this week, which opened the door for Barkley to shine as a pass-catcher. He finished with five catches and 74 receiving yards, including a 54-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Barkley also contributed as a rusher, bringing his fantasy total to 29.6 DKFP for the day. He was priced at just $6,900, so he provided excellent value at this price tag.

Barkley was also owned in just 2.1% of DraftKings tournament lineups. Most people opted to pay up for Derrick Henry or Alvin Kamara, but Barkley provided more fantasy points at a cheaper cost.

Washington Football Team and Atlanta Falcons Game Stacks

This game wasn’t a priority target for most people this week, but it provided some massive fantasy value. You had to have the right pieces — the fantasy scoring was very condensed — but if you did, it was a fantasy goldmine.

Cordarrelle Patterson has been a gadget player for most of his career, but the Falcons have incorporated him into their offense in a big way this season. He had another three touchdowns in Week 4 to go along with five catches and more than 100 scrimmage yards. Not bad for someone who cost just $4,900.

For the Football Team, the value was provided by Taylor Heinicke and Terry McLaurin. Heinicke was an awesome value option at quarterback this week, and McLaurin was the biggest beneficiary. He caught two of Heinecke’s three touchdown passes and racked up 123 receiving yards. Overall, they combined for 61.2 DKFP at $12,800. That’s exactly what you’re looking for in a low-owned stack, and you likely won some serious dough if you ran it back with Patterson.

Losers

Odell Beckham Jr.

Beckham is the clear top target in Cleveland with Jarvis Landry sidelined, but he didn’t look like it in Week 4. Beckham finished with just two catches for 27 yards and one rush for four yards, resulting in 5.1 DKFP. Beckham was the second-highest owned receiver on DraftKings at nearly 20%, so that wasn’t what fantasy owners had in mind.

It should be noted that it wasn’t all bad for Beckham. His seven targets were tied for the top mark on the squad, and Baker Mayfield missed him on what should’ve been an easy walk-in touchdown.

That said, “should’ve been” doesn’t pay the bills, so Beckham was the biggest disappointment of the week.

Travis Kelce

The Chiefs’ offense was dominant in Week 4, racking up 42 total points. Patrick Mahomes also threw five touchdowns, so everything was in place for Kelce to have a huge game.

With that in mind, Kelce’s performance was massively disappointing. He finished with just four catches for 23 yards, so Hill and Clyde Edwards-Helaire did most of the damage. Kelce had scored at least 20.4 DKFP in each of his previous three games this season, so this was easily his biggest bust of the year.

Making matters worse, Kelce was also extremely popular this week. He had average ownership of approximately 17.5%, and those lineups were unable to overcome his clunker.

Pittsburgh Steelers Passing Attack

If it wasn’t already official, we can now safely say that Ben Roethlisberger is cooked. His day got off to a good start, hitting Diontae Johnson for a 45-yard touchdown, but it was all downhill from there. He struggled to throw the ball past the line of scrimmage for most of the game, ultimately finishing with 232 passing yards on 40 attempts.

Johnson managed to salvage his fantasy value thanks to that long touchdown, but this offense is going to be very tough to trust moving forward. Najee Harris punched in a late score during garbage time, but he’s going to struggle to have a true ceiling game with this offense being so pedestrian. JuJu Smith-Schuster also was invisible despite Chase Claypool being out of the lineup.

The Steelers have long been a huge source of fantasy value, but those days are clearly in the past.

Winning tournament lineups

NFL $4.25M FANTASY FOOTBALL MILLIONAIRE

This lineup was a thing of beauty, cruising to an extremely comfortable victory considering the field size. They hit on every single play, and they even managed to win without Hill (which I didn’t think was possible). Barkley, Patterson, and David Montgomery provided huge value as the three running backs, and Montgomery could’ve had an even bigger day if not for an injury.

This team also employed a Dak Prescott to Dalton Schultz stack and ran it back with D.J. Moore. Moore seems poised for a monster season as the Panthers’ clear top wideout, while Schultz is flirting with a top-five season at tight end. Both players won’t be this cheap for much longer. Deebo Samuel also had a monster game and could’ve very easily been a part of the “winners” section.

Avoiding truly expensive players like Henry, Adams, Kupp, and Hill also allowed this user to splurge for the Bills’ defense, who responded with 23.0 DKFP in a shutout victory.

Overall, this lineup is the definition of a chef’s kiss emoji.

NFL $3M MEGA MILLIONAIRE

This contest is a bit smaller than the other Milly Maker, so perfection isn’t necessarily required. This lineup was able to survive subpar performances from Curtis Samuel and the Dolphins Defense, thanks in part to the Football Team stack of Heinicke and McLaurin.

This lineup also saved a bit with Corey Davis at WR2, which allowed them to fit both Henry and Hill.

Overall, this lineup is a good example of how a contrarian stack allows you to eat the chalk at other positions. Henry and Montgomery were both owned at greater than 25% in this contest, but Heinicke and McLaurin were enough to put together a unique lineup construction. That’s the name of the game.

$2.75M NFL Sunday Million

This lineup went a bit different from a stacking perspective. Instead of going cheap, they paid up for Mahomes and Hill and ran it back with Goedert at tight end.

Not only did that work out very well, but it also forced this user into some cheaper players that ended up smashing. Samuel, Patterson, and Barkley all provided massive value, while Kenny Golladay and Kareem Hunt also had strong days.

One interesting thing to note with this lineup is that they used two different Giants’ skill players without their quarterback. That’s something that you don’t see very often, and it worked out for this user. That said, it isn’t something I would make a habit out of. Golladay was the clear weak link of this lineup, and it’s hard for two players to hit their ceilings without a game stack being the correct call.